Method of expressing liquids.



J. J. BLRRIGAN. METHOD omxpmssms LIQUIDS. APPLIATION FILED JULY 8,1913'.4 1,1 30,879. Patented Mar. 9

.Fig 3 is a side vieiv JOHN J. BERRIGAN, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR.

To HENRY n. WoRTHINefroN,

A CORPORATION OF NEJV JERSEY.

METHOD OF EXPRESSING LIQUIDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Paten-ted Mar. 9, lg

rg'insl application filed August 22. 1911, Serial No. 645,407. Dividedand this application led July',

' 1913. Seria1No.777,974.

To all whom t may concern.'

lie it known that I, JOHN J. BERRIGAN, a citizen of the .United States,residing at Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of ExpressingLiquids, fully-described and represented in the following specificationand the accompanying drawings, forminga part of' the same.

This invention relates to improvements in processes for expressingliquids from solids.

The separation of solids from liquids in certain classes of materialsresulting from commercial manufacturing operations is often a matter ofextreme difficulty. The waste liquors from starch, containing more orless gluten in eX- cessively finely divided condition, are typical of'the classes of' materials just referred to, as are also the slops frombeerstillsf cane juice, etc. Great difficulty has been encounteredheretofore in the filtration of such liquids. Of course, such filtrationcan be done in a laboratory Way on a small scale but so far as I amaware it has been dithcult, if not impossible, to -filter such liquidsin an economical manner on a scale sufficiently large to permit of'being carried out in commercial practice.

The object of the present invention is to provide a process iifhereby itWill be possible to lter such liquids as above indicated in an efiicientand at the same time economical manner.

l have described my invention hereinafter in connection with some novelforms of apparatus, particularly suitable for carrying out suchinvention, said apparatus being illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which` Figure l is a front elevation of one form ofapparatus suitable for carrying out my invention. Fig. :2 a side view ofthe same. of modified form of apparatus, suitable -f'or this purpose.

In carrying out my new process for expressing liquids from solids, theliquid to be treated is placed Within a relatively coarse filteringmedium which in turn is inclosed within a'ne filtering the material issubjected to pressure, which,

the manufacture of instead oi trying to medium and with difl'icultlyfiltrable materials, should be relatively lighter at first than towardthe end of the pressing operation and most advantageously should lgradually increase from the beginning to the end of the press, ingoperation and continued. In the process, the material to be filtered,contained within a pluralitv of filtering media of dif'4 ferent degreesof porosity or fineness, the finer medium being outside, is subjected topressure heavier toward one end than toward the other, so that theliquid is not trapped Within the filtering media but is given anopportunity to escape gradually, thus avoiding heavy strains on thefiltering media.

lhen Working With the difiicultly filtra- 70 ble liquids, of the typehereinbefore pointed out, by ordinary methods, it has been Afound thatthe almost impalpably fine solids tend to clog the ordinary filteringcloths and thereby prevent the 'passage of liquid 75 through the same.If pressure is applied' to hasten the flow of liquid, much of the finesolids pass through a filter cloth even of the finest kindWith-comparative ease,- there being little or no separation of solidsfrom the liquid. ave discovered that if, filter such mixture of liquidandl finely divided solids directly through a very ne cloth, a somewhatcoarse cloth be interposed between the material to be expressed and thefine cloth, there is then substantially no tendency for the iinelyflivided solids to pass through such a pluralityA or" filtering media.With this arrangenu'nt of filtering media, upon the applica-tion ofpressure in a reasonable amount,'the liquid can be expressed from thesolids and will pass through the filtering media. without. .clogging thesame. Furthermore, the liquid under such suitable pressure passes thefitering media at a sufficiently rapidI rate for commercial operati onvWhile at the same time being practically i'reefrom the solids. [ncarrying out this ,process it is imljiortaut to apply a relatively lightpressure at first and then to increase the pressure. l-`urthernu're, inapplying the pressure, it is best to increase it steadily and gradually.TAfter a substantial deposit of solid material has ,y been formed on theinterior-lyr arranged relatively coarse cloth, the pressure may beraised considerably without danger 'lo cloth.

While I have found that the arrangement of the filtering media ofdifferent degrees of lineness witli the coarser filtering medium insideproduces advantageous results in the treatment of liquids such ashereinbefore stated, have also discovered that most iinportaiitadvantages in practice are obtained by forming each filtering medium asa bag, the bag of coarser material being inside tlie bag of finermaterial and larger than the latter. All the tests made by me show thatthe inner bag should be considerably bigger than the outer bag. Forexample, I found particularly advantageous results were obtained whenusing an outer bag three feet by four feet with an inner bag of fourfeet by six feet, the larger dimensions of the two bags being vertical.As suitable material for the bags, different fabrics may be usedwithoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. l have found that theoutside bag may conveniently be made of duclr ranging from 14; ouncehose duck to lamb skin nlter cloth, with any of` which materials may beused an inner bag of coarser material such as, a relatively coarseunbleached cotton cloth.

Just why the particular method of filter pressing above described shouldgive such clean separation of solids and liquids when filtering slimesand similar materials, .I am not able to state iositively. I'Vliatev'ermay be the theoretical explanation of the process, it is clear fromrepeated practical tests that it does produce eminently satisfactory andcommercially economical results and l coritent myself with noting theobserved facts without attempting to explain why the occur.

In carrying out the process, I have found that considerable advantageresults if the pressure applied to the material within the lilteringmedia of the kind described is of a yielding nature. I have also foundthat a pressure of this kind is most satisfactorily obtained by theemployment of a press actuated by the force of gravity since such apress will, owing to the yielding nature of the force, accommodateitself to any variations in resistance due to variations in the mannerin which the solids deposit to form the filter calre.

While my process may be carried out with various apparatus, I havedevised a new type of press particularly suited for that purpose, whichwill now be described.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings; 1, 1, indicate. coperatingpressing members, in this case comprising a pair of platens arranged tobe pivotally connected together toward one end. In the apparatus shown,the pressing members are pivotally connected at their vtop ends by asuitable the means comprising a device located at each side of thepressing members. Each con-- necting device, in'. the exampleillustrated, consists of a screw 2, pivotally connected to one of thepressing members, as pin 3 secured to one of the pressing members andpassing through an eye in said sei-ew 2, the screw passing through asleeve LLL, swiveled to the other pressing member, as for example bypivotally mounting said sleeve l on a pivot pin 5. Upon the screw ismounted a nut 6 provided with an arm 7 by which it may be rotatedmanually. Between the nut 6 and the sleeve 4 a suitable yielding meansfor holding the two pressing members together is provided, 4thisyielding means, in connection with the screw and nut, also constitutinga pressure limiting connection between the pressing members. In theapparatus illustrated, the yielding means consists of a helical spring8, and bearing at one end against the sleeve 4: and at the other endagainst the nut'.

It will be clear from the description thus far that by rotating the nuts6 of the two devices, the distance apart of the two pressing members atlthe point of pivotal connection may be varied, and owing to thepresence of the spring S this connection is a yielding one.

Since in actual practice itis important that the two nuts 6 should beadjusted simultaneously in order to avoid unnecessary strains on thepressing members, suitable transmitting mechanism is employed betweenthe two nuts C, whereby the manual adjustment ofone nut will result inthe corresponding adjustment of the other nut. the example illustrated,this result is accomplished by providing for each nut a sprocket wheelas indicated at 9, these sprocket wheels being connected by a suitablesprocket chain indicated at 10, Fig. 1.

Theicoperating pressing members 1, la, are so mounted as to be capableof movement in a general up and down direction, so that by lifting thesaid pressing meme bers to a certain position upward and then releasingthem they may descend under the action of gravity, and meansr areprovided for causing this downward movement or descent of the pressingmembers to produce a movement of said pressing members toward eachother. In carrying out my process'for expressing is particularlyadvantageous to subject the material to be expressed irst'to a lightpressure and later to a heavier pressure, an in the preferred apparatus,the construction is such as to accomplish this result, that is to say,means is provided whereby the downward movement bers causes them to bemoved toward each other at a gradually decreasing'rate -of speedcomparedwith the downward velocsurrounding the screw.'

liquids from. solids, it

-of the pressing ment` efwith inside and holes in the boxings ity ofsaid pressing members, so that when material to be pressed is in placebetween the said pressing members, the said material and the membersthemselves will be subjected to a gradually .increasing pressure indirections tending to move the pressing members toward each other. Inthe construction illustrated in the drawings, these 'resultsare attainedin a simple manner by pivotally mounting each pressing member in levers,or-linlr devices, arranged one at each side of each pressing member,said levers being provided with fixed or stationary ulcrums, whichhowever may be adjustable, as hereinafter' explained, these fulcrumsbeing in a plane lying below the plane through the points where ingmembers are pivoted tothe said levers. In the example illustrated thepressing members l, la, are provided at each side with horizontallyprojecting trunnions 11, and each trunnion is journaled, or pivotallymounted, in one end or" a link or lever, as indicated at 12, each lieverbeing fulcrumed in a suitable b oxingffor fulcrum, as indicated at 13,these fulcrums being arranged to be adjustable yet fixed or stationaryinany position to which they may be adjusted. In the example illustratedthe links supporting each pressing member are fixed to a shaft 13a, eachshaft being mounted rotatably in its respective boxings 13, which aremounted on. suitable supports such as the pedestals 14,"secured to abase 15. It will be observed that in the construction illustrated thereis a pair of boxings 13 at each side of the pressing members, and eachboxing 13 is so mounted on its respective pedestal as to be adjustabletoward or from the other boxing of the pair. To permit of thisadjustment while at the same time suitably holding the boxing to itsrespective pedestal, an'interlocking device is provided between eachpedestal and its respective boxing, this being formed'as follows in thepresent example. Each boxing 13 is provided .with a plurality ofdownward extending T-heads or doveta-iled ribs 16 which slide incorrespondingly dovetailed grooves or guideways, so that each boxing ofa pair can move toward or from the corresponding opposite boxing of thesame pair, but is incapable of movement in any other direction.`Suitable adjustingmechahism is provided for adjusting the boxings 13 ofa pair toward or from each other and. for locking or holding such boxingrigidly in any position to which they may be adjusted. n the presentinstance this means consists of. a pair of tension rods 17 for each pairofiboxings 13, these rods passing through 13 above and below thefulcrums of the respective'levers, said rods being screw-threaded andprovided outside nuts 18, 19, 'which the press- I downward movementserve to clamp the respective boxings between them. It will be noticedthat-the weight of the pressingmembers i, 1a, will tend to `swing thelinks or levers 12 down- Ward and asthese are fulcrunied in thestationary boxings 13 and hence have an angular movement with relationto their fulcrums the ressin members are caused tov move towar eachother they descend, so that any material will be pressed by them, thereaction due to such pressure being sustained by the levers 12, andtheirv ulcrums, the levers being subjected to a compressive strain as aresult or this reaction, wherefore said levers must be constructed asthrust members so as not to be de iiected by the compressive strains. l

Since the weight or' the pressing members causes a thruston each leverand its fulcrums in a direction such as to move each boxing of a pairaway from the corresponding boxing of the pair, it is only necessary toscrew outward the nuts 18, 1S, of the tension rods 17 in order toproperly adjust the fulorums outward, the boxings movingoutward underthe outward thrust when permitted to do so bv the proper movement of thesaid nuts, andA being drawn toward each other when the nuts are screwedin the reverse direction for that purpose.

The proportioning and/adjustment of the parts are intended to be such,under the best conditions of operation, that when niaterial is in placebetween the pressing members the latter will have such a' limit of thatthe levers 12 will come to a substantially horizontal position, that isto say, the pivotal points of each end of each lever will be in asubstantially horizontal plane or, at least, the said levers will makean innitesimal angle to such horizontal plane, with the inner pivotalpoints slightly above the `horizontal plane. Furthermore, at this limit,the pressing faces of the pressing members should lie in substantiallyvertical planes.' By this construction the pressure to which thematerial is' subjected gradually increases and theoretically shouldapproach infinity at the conclusion of the pressing operation. rTheinitial pressure at the beginning of the pressing operation isdetermined .by the weight of the pressing members and their load of'material, assisted by the .weight of the attached parts.

For the purpose of giving` control of the pressure to which the materialis to lbe subjected, the apparatus is provided with means arranged tocheck the fall or descent of the pressing members, said means acting ina direction oppose to that of gravity. Such `a means may be in the formof a brake. such 'as a hydraulic brake or delay-action device.,

and is most advantageously aHanger-.Cl to be controllable or adjustablein its action. in

. av relative motion between the present example, this checking orcontrolling means comprises a piston and cylinder, one of these twoparts being so connected with the pressing apparatus that the descent ofthe pressing members will produce the two parts, this motion beingchecked by a fluid contained in. the cylinder, the arrangement beingsuch that said fluid will be forced out of the cylinder by the saidrelative movement of the parts, the rate of discharge of the fluid beingcontrollable. In the eXample shown the cylinder, indicated at 20, isprovided with a piston 21, movable therein.

The piston is connected with some part o the press which Will moveduring the descent' of the pressing members so that such movement willcause the movement of the piston. In the present example the piston 2lis provided with a piston rod 22 having a head 232* at its upper end, towhich are pivotally connected twolinks 23, whose other ends arepivotally connected to arms Q4 carried by the levers l2. n this examplethe descent of the pressing members causes a downward movement of thepiston Zlin the cylinder. An outlet for the fluid is provided below thepiston, this outlet being controlled by an adjustable valve, as will bemore fully explained hereinafter. Hence bv adjusting the valve, the rateof escape of the fluid from beneath the piston may be regulated. l

In order to balance the strains on the pressing apparatus it isadvantageous to provide each side of the latter with a cylinder andpiston, as shown in Fig. 1. "With such duplicate apparatus the outletsof the cylinders are connected by a pipe 25 which at an intermediatepart is connected to a pipe Q6 in valve Q7, which, for the presentpurposes should be a finely adjustable needle valvein order that saidvalve mayv be adjusted to fluid very slowly,

allow the escape of the even drop by drop, when, necessary. he valve maybe cut olf from the system by a valve 27e, and thus the descent of thepressing members stopped when desired.

1n the practical operation of the press it is necessary to provide meansfor lifting the pressing members, and for this purpose, as well as toreplace the fluid beneath the pisiton, the pipe Q6 is connected to anysuitable source of fluid supply, not shown, a supply valve QS serving tocontrol the admission of such supply. By closing the needle val ve QTand opening the valve 2S the pistons 2l. will be forced upward andthereby the pressing members will be raised and also, owing to themethod of their mounting, will be separated so that the material alreadypressed may be removed and new material. to be pressed may be insertedbetween the presse5 ing members.

which is located a controlling In order to apply and extraneous forcesupplemental to gravityfor the purpose of increasing` the pressure onthe material to be pressed, suitable means may be provided for applyingpower toany of the moving parts .in such a direction as to move orassist in moving the coperative pressing members toward each other. 1nthe present example such means is combined with the checking ordelay-action device, by providing devices for applying a pressure to theupper side of one or both of the pistons 2l. In the present example eachcylinder 2O is provided at its upper end with an inlet connected to afeed pipe 29, common to both cylinders, said vfeed pipe being connectedto a suitable source of fluid supply (not shown) which may be steam,compressed air or water under pressure. Suitable valves for controllingthe admission to the cylinders may be provided as indicated at 30. lThismeans for applying a supplemental force to the pressing members isparticularly advantageous for use at the last stages of the pressingoperation since it assists in giving a final heavy squeeze to thematerial..

It .is to be observed that by'the use of an incompressible fluid, suchas water, beneath the pistons, the latter may be reliably and positivelycontrolled during Athe descent of said pistons and may be positivelyraised to lift the pressing members, while on the other hand by the useof an elastic fluid such as compressed air or steam upon the upper sideof the pistons, the supplemental pressure applied to the pressingmembers is a yielding one, whereby unnecessary strains on the pressingmem ers are avoided. From this it will be clear that the apparatus maybe provided with positive means for controlling the descent of thepressing members and with yielding means for increasing the pressure ofsaid pressing members on the material.

In order that the material being pressed may be treated at any desiredtemperature, the pressing members are suitably provided with means forheating or cooling them. This is conveniently done by making saidpressing members hollow and providing each with' an inlet for a heatingor cooling fluid as indicated at for suchlluid as indicated at 41A.

For the purpose of receiving the liquid discharged from the press, anysuitable receptacle may be mounted beneath the pressing members, and. inthe drawings I have shown a tray 42, mounted on rollers 4.3 arranged tomove on rails le for the purpose of receiving the discharge from thepress.

. The filtering media may be held in place in various ways, sometimesbeing forme merely as a pair of bags, one within the other, these bagsbeing suitably secured together .if desired at the top and placed be- 40and with an outlet iso tween the pressing members, after which the topedges of the pressing members are brought together whereby the top ofthe bag will be clamped to hold the same. Or, if desired, the filtercloths maybe brought over the top edges of the pressing members and heldby suitable eyelets engaging pins on the exterior faces-of said pressingmembers. This construction is illustrated in Figs. 3.

Instead of supporting the pressing members from below as in theconstruction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the members may be supported fromabove. Such a construction .is illustrated in a typicalfcrm in Fig. 3.Referring to these views, 66 is a framework supporting the press unitsof Which there may be one, as shown, or a plurality. Suspending arms orlinks 67 and 68 are pivoted at 69 and 70 to the framework. The arms 67are pivotally joined at 71 to members 72 While arms 68 are similarlyconnected at 73 to members 74, the members or lever arms 7 2 and 74being pivotally joined as at 75. Press member 7 6 is pivotally mountedatv 77 on members 72, the coperating press element 78 being similarlymounted at 79 on members 74. These press elements are intended to be ofconsiderable Weight and therefore are most conveniently iron castings.In this construction hooks 80 on one of the press elements are arrangedto engage pins 81 on the other element, thereby serving as latches tohold the upper endes of the-press elements together whereby there isformed a V-shaped pressing member.

he means for lifting the pressing members and for checking their descentmay be the same as has been described hereinbefore in connection with'It will be noted that in this construction the hooks and pins serve asmeans for pivotally connecting the upper edges of the pressing members.The operation of this form of press Will be readily understood from thedescription of the operation hereinbefore given of the press shown inFig. 1. The present application constitutes a division of my applicationvSerial No. 645,407; filed August 22, 1911.

What I claim is z- 1. The process of expressing liquids from solids,which comprises inclosing the material to be pressed Within filteringmedia comprising ltering fabrics of different degrees of iineness`arranged one inside another, the finerfiltering fabric being outside,and then subjecting the material to pressure.

2. The process of solids, which comprises inclosing the material to bepressed Within filtering media comprising filtering fabrics of diiierentdegrees of eness arranged one inside another, the finer filtering fabricbeing outside,

said pressing the first forni of press. y

expressing liquids from and then subjecting thev material first to a.

grees of ineness arranged one inside another, the finer filtering fabricbeing outside, and then subjecting the material to a graduallyincreasing pressure.

4. The process of expressing liquids from solids, rial to be pressedWithin filtering media comprising filtering .fabrics of different de'-grees of fineness arranged one inside an-l other, the finer 'filteringfabric being outside, and then subjecting the. material to a pressureheavier at one end of said material than toward the other end.

5. Theprocess of expressing liquids from solids, Whichcomprisesinclosing the material to be pressed Within filtering media comprisingiiltering fabrics of different degrees ofv iin'eness arranged-one insideanother, the liner filtering fabric being outside, and then subjectingthe material lto a pressure heavier at one end of said materialy thantoward thev other end, and then gradually increasing the amounts of suchdifferent pressures.

Which comprises inclosing the mate? 6. |The process of expressingliquids from solids, which comprises inclosing the material to bepressed Within filtering media comprising filtering fabrics of differentdegrees of iineness arranged one inside another, the finer filteringfabric being outside, and then subjecting the material to a slowlyincreasing pressure and then to a sudden heavier pressure. l

7. The process of expressing liquids from solids, which comprisesinclosing the material to be pressed Within filtering media comprisingbag-form ltering fabrics of different sizes and dierent degreesofineness arranged one inside another, the smaller bag being of linerfiltering fabric and located outside, and then subjecting pressure.

8. The process of expressing liquids from solids, which comprisesinclosing the material to be pressed Within filtering media. comprisingbag-form iiltering fabrics of different sizes and different degrees offineness arranged one inside another, the smaller bag being of finerfiltering fabric and located outside, and then subjecting the materialto gradually increasing pressure.

9. The process of expressing liquids from solids, which comprisesinclosing the' material to be pressed Within ltering ,media comprisingbag-form filtering fabrics of different sizes and diEerent degrees ofneness arranged one inside another, the smaller bag the material tobeing of finer filtering fabricand located outside, and then subjectingthe material to a pressure heavier at one end of the bag than at theother end.

10. The process of expressing liquids from solids, Which comprisesinclosing the material to be pressed Within filtering media comprisingfiltering fabrics of different degrees of fineness, said filteringfabrics being located one inside the other, the finer liltering fabricbeing outside, and then subjecting the material to pressure commencingfirst vat one end and then progressively extending toward the other end.

11. The process of expressing liquids from solids, which comprisesinclosing the mate- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve centseach, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

rial to be pressed Within filtering media comprising filtering fabricsof different degrees of fineness, said filtering fabrics being locatedone inside theother, the finer filter ing fabric being outside, and thensubjecting the materialto pressure commencing first at the upper end andthen progressively eX- tending to the lower end In testimony whereof, Ihave hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JUHN J.` BERRGAN.

vWitnesses: I

Ju A. GRAVES, T. F. Kanon.

Washington, D. C.

